Minneapolis has always been a hot bed of rock and roll. From The Replacements to Prince and everything in between this Twin City knows how to rock. It should really come as no surprise then that the most rocking band of 2012 come to us from that rather freezing city. Howler is their name and their album America Give Up is a raw trashy rock and roll record that sounds like it was recorded in a basement somewhere in deep with suburban Minneapolis.
America Give Up is a rough and tumble ride through the rock and roll darklands. Reminiscent of The Raveonettes, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Drums Howler have the distorted surf thing down pat and run it through enough drunken escapades to make you stagger. This is no frills stuff that sounds like it was recorded on a boom box late one Friday night after consuming several bottles of something. It's rough around the edges, punky, sloppy, filled with ego and quite honestly very good.
America Give Up is an album covered in tarnish and lacks any hint of polish. It's gritty, grimy, skeevy and doesn't really care what anyone thinks. Its melodies are fractured, its songs are duct taped together, the production is anti-production and the overall feeling is that Howler might just self-destruct before the end of the record. They are awesome. Whether it's broken hearted washed out love songs or spiky amphetamine fueled punk songs Howler have a way about things and they get it done on America Give Up and that's why it's utterly fantastic. This is the sound of rock and roll when the chips are down and it doesn't get much better than this.
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